And for those who played with him, like Flacco and Rice, who only experienced Lewis in the December of his career, they’ll be telling stories to their grandchildren, but for other teammates it helped fund generations of families of wealth. The trail of players and coaches who touched Lewis along the way and whose careers were enriched by his efforts and association is simply staggering.
Marvin Lewis, Rex Ryan, Mike Smith, Jack Del Rio, Mike Nolan, Chuck Pagano, Jim Schwartz, and Mike Singletary all became NFL head coaches soon after coaching on a defensive staff that catered to the strengths, passion, and leadership of Ray Lewis.
Marvin Lewis was the first of these men to find a very raw 20-year old Ray Lewis at the Indianapolis combine in 1996 when he was still the linebackers coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, just days away from leaving to become the defensive coordinator of the Ravens. The Steelers had the 31st pick, and Marvin Lewis knew Ray Lewis wouldn’t be around for Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh.
“After the linebackers weighed in at the combine, and after Ray went across the podium, and he was waiting there putting back on his sweats, I went off the back end and I went over and introduced myself. I said, ‘I’m Marvin Lewis, and I coach the linebackers of the Steelers. You have had a great career, you’re one hell of a player, and I’ll probably never get to coach you, but I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you what a great player you are.’ I watched five plays of him, shut the tape off, went and got Dick Lebeau and said ‘You gotta look at this guy.’ It was impressive. His video was incredible, and from the time we drafted him, I remember we sent [1996 Ravens linebacker coach] Maxie Baughan to work him out again in Miami because he didn’t run real fast [at the combine]. Maxie came back and was really impressed with him, and then we drafted him. It was a slam dunk in my mind.
“When we had the rookie minicamp that next Friday and he walked into Owings Mills, he became the leader every step of the way and that’s the text I sent him after the Super Bowl [XLVII win]. ‘Just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you. Congratulations on how you’ve empowered everybody around you to be better!’ And that’s the outstanding thing about Ray. Whether it’s been coaches, whether it’s been players on his team, other teams, he’s helped others be better and that’s the greatest part of Ray. It was also the first time I had been a defensive coordinator. We grew up together.”
After being molded by him in the first six seasons in Baltimore, Ray Lewis wound up competing against Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals twice a year during the final decade of his career
“Coming in with Marvin, being so young, and as soon as I got there, they made a huge move the first day when I walked in [releasing veteran Pepper Johnson], and that was when Marvin came to me to have a conversation,” Ray remembers. “He said, ‘Listen, this is your team now.’ He said, ‘I want to do something special with you.’ The relationship we had was more like father and son, because we would find a different way to meet with each other. I would come up to his office every day, sit there and pick his brain on how defensive coordinators thought, the things about being a man, all of these different things. He definitely is one of the biggest reasons why my career is where it is today.”
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The sheer volume of money that’s been earned by defensive players who were once a teammate and then went on to sign big ticket contracts elsewhere is staggering. Kim Herring, Jamie Sharper, Edgerton Hartwell, Maake Keameatu, Adalius Thomas, Bart Scott, Cory Redding, Jarret Johnson, Tom Zbikowski, and Haruki Nakamura all received tens of millions of dollars when they departed the Ravens. All would have to say that playing next to Ray Lewis helped make them multi-millionaires. Most went on to have unimpressive careers at their next stop.
Perhaps the greatest bond anyone in the locker room ever had with Ray Lewis over the years was when Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary coached the linebackers in 2003 and 2004. Then-head coach Brian Billick hired Singletary, who just wanted a chance to get into coaching after playing at the highest level in the sport from 1981 until 1992, as the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Singletary was the spiritual leader of a legendary defense of Buddy Ryan and the 1985 Super Bowl-winning team with Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, and Jim McMahon.
Ray Lewis grew up idolizing Singletary. He was in awe of him when he arrived.
Singletary, taking the first coaching assignment of his career, had heard good things about Lewis, but he’d also seen all of the nasty fallout of the Atlanta case and wondered what kind of cooperation he would find in No. 52 when he arrived in Baltimore. Would he be able to reach this young superstar and work with him? He found that Lewis, who was already a Hall of Famer before Singletary entered the picture, wanted to learn. He wanted to be criticized. He wanted to be challenged. He wanted to become even greater.
